Does appearance really matter?

Well, I am getting heavily into blogging.
Been writing articles daily for a few months, and been getting decent hits. I know what I am doing wrong, and I'm fixing it at the moment.

But, does Wordpress appearance really matter?
I used to base my site off quality, and the articles seems really solid to me. It is still my top concern, but I am noticing something.

All these newer blogs I see, are looking nice and sleek. My theme, is just
CyberChimps responsive theme.
now, as a starter, it was quick and easy for me to set up. But it just seems very blah and crappy now.

I was looking into the Aerios of theme forest. I need Wordpress since its nice and easy to use, and I'm not the only one using it. My business partner is writing %99 of the articles, and I'm doing the technical side of things.
So, since we have solid articles, and the site is so plain and generic, do you think we should upgrade?
the thing is, I don't know if these themes are to flashy, or if they are to fancy for our blog, since it not what it's about.

The site contains things on
relationships
raising your kids
sex
and things like that.
So, it's always getting hits, but I don't know if a new theme, will destroy our meaning behind this?
any thoughts?
THANKS!

p.s. if anyone wants to see it, please let me know. I'm new so it won't let me post it

I think it depends on the niche.. if its fashion (or maybe your niche..), then I would say yes, appearance is important. If its programming or something.. ahem.. a bit dull (sorry to all my programmer friends), then probably the content will be more important than whether the website is pretty. Just my opinion..

Let me answer this in a different manner.
I tend to get attracted to good looking girls, cars. I would rather talk to a beautiful girl than an ugly one. But for getting my work completed, I might be needing the help of that ugly intelligent girl rather than the beautiful dumb, and had she been beautiful and intelligent, I would go for her.

So the point is, beauty matters, but upto some extent and depends on the context.

Let me answer this in a different manner.
I tend to get attracted to good looking girls, cars. I would rather talk to a beautiful girl than an ugly one. But for getting my work completed, I might be needing the help of that ugly intelligent girl rather than the beautiful dumb, and had she been beautiful and intelligent, I would go for her.

So the point is, beauty matters, but upto some extent and depends on the context.

Click to expand...

Haha good analogy
I think I'm gonna buy the Aires for 30 bucks.
any other recommendations?

Let me answer this in a different manner.
I tend to get attracted to good looking girls, cars. I would rather talk to a beautiful girl than an ugly one. But for getting my work completed, I might be needing the help of that ugly intelligent girl rather than the beautiful dumb, and had she been beautiful and intelligent, I would go for her.

So the point is, beauty matters, but upto some extent and depends on the context.

Click to expand...

first impression matters both online or offline and it won't be the content, but the look

I also agree that the look does matter. It is the FIRST thing a new user will see. He will not see the content right away, he might not even read it if it looks bad...

As a developer I always have a hard time because I make crappy GUIs, the application works really well and everything but it looks bad, people don't like that. Then I get someone to change the UI a bit to make it look better and I can see a difference, the user experience is different... a beautiful site that does not work at all is not a great thing either, but they will be trying to use it until they realize there is nothing to do... In my opinion it is pretty similar with any website theme vs content situation !

Appearances matter A LOT, no matter what niche are you in, appearance matters A LOT.

You might say, don't judge a book by its cover. FUCK THAT. We all judge at first impressions, conscious or unconsciously.
Treat your blog like you think it should be treated. Appearance can definitely have a huge impact, specially on first time viewers.

A majority of people go by first impression, so you have to work on the appearance of your blog, but having said that there is no need to make it look extravagant i.e full of banners and pictures. Use the K.I.S.S (Keep it short and simple) formula, but add some spice to it. Based on your niche, choose a theme and go from there. Wearing a tie around the neck seems purposeless in a party, but it'd be perfect for a business meeting with your client. I hope I was able to help you.

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